Dependent
by Evaworld
Summary: Wheatley lived almost all of his artificial life without any success. Being called a moron and being made fun for his intelligence was only the small bits of the problem. However, he never thought that he'll get one, last, hopeful chance; a chance to help an old friend once again. Rated T just to be safe. Any reviews will send a smile to my face! May contain future Chelley
1. The Hopeful

**AN: Hello. Okay, now let's start all over again, shall we? And I'll try my best to make this original from all of the other fictions on this site! Give me feedback, as usual… I want to get so much better than I am right now so please tell me if I need to work on some things here and there. Anyway, I'll shut up and start this fanfiction! Also, please tell me if there is any grammar errors or spelling errors, or anything like that. Don't be afraid to speak up! :D**

**Chapter 1 (The Hopeful)**

Let's just start with one, true, and very apparent fact, Wheatley wasn't really known for knowing too many things. I know you probably just said aloud, "No, I never thought of that," with much heavy sarcasm. However, it was true. It was obvious, but true. He wasn't called the Intelligence Damping Sphere and been called a moron everyday for nothing. [He would like to advise you that he is NOT a moron, thank you] However, one thing he knew was for certain, and he also believed in it, and that was that he could count forever on places he would rather be right now. Well, he would want to be anywhere, except here. Some humans a long time ago said that they loved the place where they were created (or in this case, born) but that didn't apply to Wheatley for a handful of reasons. He hated this place with as much simulated hatred you could possibly think of. Nowhere else in this entire universe made him fell so neurotic, jumpy and… afraid. He was so afraid… so afraid that he wished he was back in space, up in the stars. Of course, it was boring there, of course, absolutely. However, if he was up there in the stars once again, tackling absolute boredom while listening to that poor corrupted core who just blabbered on about the joys of space (which it wasn't "that" great, by the way), it would be better than worrying constantly.

She wasn't cowardly, right? No, old "What's-her-name", who was the symbol of human resistance in Aperture, was never was afraid, either that or she was really good at hiding it… Anyway, he wished that he could be as brave and as fearless as her. He hoped that someday he could bring down Her just like his old human friend did, but that's very doubtful. Dang, a human brought something as huge and powerful as Her. He still couldn't believe it and it made him terrified of his own friend. Well, he was always scared, but I suppose you get the point. At this point in time, he only wished that she was safe, and more importantly, alive. Oh, please don't be dead, just DON'T be dead. She didn't look good the last time he had seen her. The lack of oxygen in space caused her to go pale from the last minutes he saw the lady, and when she let him go in the vast space of absolutely nothing. It was then that Wheatley realized that she deserved her freedom, by all means. She really did. She sacrificed almost everything and anything to get where she is (or supposedly is) now. She tried so hard and just where things were starting to get bleak, the woman's determination to be set free out in the real world rose up to ten times than it was before. There seemed to be one rule that she always followed and that was that she NEVER gave up and that was one rule to live and die with. He hoped that 'She' had at least had somewhat of an artificial heart and gave the human her freedom she rightfully deserved. It would be depressing if She forced her to test again, as well, and if she was still here. He prayed for his life that she was free, and safe, outside in the open world. Making human friends that didn't attempt to murder her.

He didn't even know this woman's name and it was disappointing that he didn't. He barely even knew her, but he could've had a newer, much different life. He would be free with her! Well, if he could have found a way to get out of Her chassis that long time ago, he could've been free. That chassis, though, good God, it's enough to turn the sanest into the mad. When all that power went straight to the head, you had to two voices talking to you. One of them was your own, convincing you to stop and realize your actions. The other was Greed, Selfishness, Hatred and Aggression all combined in one, in a big giant evil range of emotions, seeming to 'peer pressure' you into horrible things. It's hard to explain when you haven't been in the situation yourself. He can't believe that he'll fell for that though. The Itch, the peer pressuring, and horrible temper, he all fell for it. And in the end, he never won. He was worse than Her. And that's saying a lot, since She was a villain, an absolutely mad villain. Yet, he was worse than Her, gosh, he betrayed his one and only friend. At least he thought they were friends. [Oh God, he needs to change the subject, he's getting really touchy and simulated emotions were coursing through him as he was thinking about this.]

Instead of his partner in crime being with him, he has Her. Ugh, nothing is worse than Her. He couldn't understand how his rebellious friend, how smart she was, could team up with such a nasty bad character, GLaDOS. Maybe that's why he was so livid at her the last time they saw each other, the reason why he said all of those nasty things. For a long time, he tried his best to convince himself that they both were outside, with him talking nonstop about nonsense, and she always listening, nodding and smiling from time to time, but that didn't seem to help. He wishes he had the guts (not literally) to delete her from his memory but he couldn't do it. But, why? It would be much easier to forget her that way and all of this simulated emotional pain will go away but he felt cold every time he tried to delete his memories of the lady. It took him a long time to realize the truth. That truth is that he didn't want to forget her and he didn't know why. You never know if they will cross paths again, but that's a very slim chance, isn't it? Alright, seriously though, this is the last time he is thinking about her. No more thinking about that lady. Only guilt will come.

Anyway, the good news… The only good news was that he had arms and legs. He was now a mobile android (Thank God that GLaDOS didn't put him into a human body, or an android body that impersonated a human, the thought made him sick. But let's not give her any ideas…You won't tell her, right?) He was still a personality core but instead a little rebuilt and he was plugged into robotic limbs. Now why did She do This? The answer wasn't at all obvious. It didn't make any sense. She says it's because the punishment in space wasn't good enough and that was only the woman's (don't think about her, don't think about her) idea. However, this isn't something you would consider a punishment at all! He was actually thankful that he now can walk and do all sorts of great stuff! Arms were pretty useful, too.

She even let him go outside for fresh air (again not literally) every once and while. Honestly, She actually forced him to, saying that she couldn't handle him being in the facility for too long. He's pretty sure that GLaDOS is afraid that he'll break something very expensive and she'll not be able to fix it. That and she cannot handle his rambling, but who is he going talk to, anyhow? The wall? There was no other personality constructs other than him, but maybe if She gets bored, there be others, maybe. Wheatley didn't get his hopes up on that though. The new cores will probably be programmed just sit there and humiliate him, torture him, or scream at him for no reason, or something scary like that, because that sounds like a plan that GLaDOS could come up with (again, don't give her any ideas if she doesn't think of that plan…) However, of course she didn't just let him go out in the in open world, being able to do whatever he wanted. That was the beautiful and hard-to-get freedom, but she didn't want him free. She wanted a punishment. A slow punishment that is, when she thinks of any great approvable, violent ideas. She threatened him that she'll destroy him aggressively and never reassemble him if he stayed outside later than 4:00 p.m., just in case if Wheatley gets any horrible ideas to think he is free. He's not sure if she is bluffing, but a threat like that wouldn't want you to find out if she is, huh? Better not take the chances…

Hmm… What else? Outside is amazing! Although, not what he quite what he expected it to be. Wasn't it supposed to be green outside with trees, mounds of water, and fruits and vegetables? Either way, this wasn't quite what any Aperture science construct would think of when they see the outdoors. At least it had vibrant colors and very warm, the reverse of Aperture, and that made him feel better, despite all of the things that have happened in the past. Anyhow, there was light blue sky up above everything and it was accompanied with these fluffy-like things called "clouds" and there was a very bright, yellow and hot circle in the sky that was a light source. The sun. Wheatley had actually seen it in space but it looked much different than it is now. Anyway, on the ground there was dirt and miles and miles of strange grass-like stocks almost as yellow golden as the sun. Gosh, they went down for miles. It looked like a big golden sea that created waves of movement in one direction whenever the wind blew. He heard from GLaDOS that it was something along the lines of "wheat" but he didn't know if he was just messing with him or not, because wheat must be what humans ate… you know, wheat bread products, but that was just a guess. It didn't look very appetizing if you asked him. It looked rough and probably wouldn't feel too good if you had it in your mouth either, but he wasn't a human expert, he didn't know.

It stayed like this for a long time actually. Wheatley couldn't tell if it was months, weeks or even days since he's been free from space. It felt unquestionably like a long time but maybe it wasn't, because this is the first time anything has ever really happened in here in years. Maybe this was how time paced when you aren't bored or everything around you seemed uneventful. Oh, he didn't know and something told him that he didn't want to know. You never know if he's been gone for decades and he'll never get a opportunity to say how sorry he is about- you know what, nevermind, its better if he doesn't think about that right now…

"Hey, moron. Where do you think you're going?" He heard her say as the statement echoes across the facility. "Moron", God, he could think of a thousand words that he would be rather be called than just a 'moron'… Wheatley was startled by her sudden comment but he muttered, "I'm not a moron," under his breath as small as a whisper, before saying, "Oh, um, outside? That is, if I can leave, without you viciously murdering me or of the sorts. Uh… can I go? That's all I'm asking really. Just if I can go outside and come back before 4:00 p.m. Er, as the usual. You know, –"

"Just go," She interrupted him coldly. Wheatley got on the lift and it moved upward. To be honest, it really freaked him out that She was actually being at least a little nice to him after all he had done. He will never drop his guard down though. He's actually expecting a sneak attack at just the right moment, for he knows what kind of voices run though her corrupt chassis of hers and they were not good ones. Another thing was that She always loved revenge. He was expecting it. He'll trust her for a second then, bam! He'll become nothing but a scrap piece of metal, and he won't even see it coming. Either that or it would be slow and painful. Ugh. Bye-bye Wheatley…

Oh, whatever, that doesn't matter. It isn't happening right now and won't for a while, right? He's outside either way. Wheatley liked the outdoors, he could get used to it. He felt the breeze and the sunlight as he went outside and out of the lift and as usual, the old charred companion cube was still there. He glanced over to it. Was it moving while he wasn't looking? Ugh, he preferred not to think about that. Gosh, it was just disturbing how it got up here on the surface. How in the world did it get up here anyway? It's probably a mystery that he will never find out, and there's no way that he is asking Her about it. So, eh, whatever. He walked away but turned around to give a glance at the cube that seemingly read, "I'm watching you," before he left. He didn't know if the cube had artificial life in it, but you know… might as well give off warning signals. Better safe than sorry. He continued walking to see if there was anything else in this world other than just wheat, sunlight, clouds and a companion cube. And really, he didn't find too much. The wheat seemed to go on forever. It was never-ending and very annoying. Was this how the whole world was? How boring… I mean, it's already better than Aperture, but still… It's too much wheat.

Eventually after twenty or so minutes walking, he found something new. They looked absolutely strange. It was a tree and had some type of fruit growing off the limbs. It took him a while to figure out what they were… "Oh! An apple tree! That's what it is… hmm… Not quite what I expected." Wheatley stated, unsure on who he was talking to. Wait a minute… There was some familiar long fall boots near the tree's trunk. A little too familiar if you asked him. He looked around the tree but he didn't find a test subject anywhere. At least the boots gave him some hope that somewhere, out there she, the old "what's-her-name" was alive, but, of course maybe it was someone else. Some other test subject that escaped, way before her time… the boots looked worn.

Despite that fact, he kept walking, unsure what he was doing or where he was going. Taking a walk outside was much better than staying with Her and having to go in Aperture. Did he mention that he hated that place? Well, he hated it. Anyway, the wheat slowly but surely disappeared as he kept walking. At least he got past the sea of wheat. That was annoying to go through. There was a cliff that went under the current ground level at least 15 feet, which was pretty cool to see. At least it was something a little different. Woah. Wait a tic, woah, what is that? He noticed something on the ground against the cliff side. But it scared him half to death when he recognized it. Seriously, what is it? He went to get a closer look.

…It a human-ish figure on the ground, which was lying on its back, with dirt smudged all over its clothes and its skin, with cuts bruises and other wounds all around her. God, it was… No, could it be? No way, he didn't believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be his old friend. In fact, please don't let it be his old friend; she didn't look good at all. The human looked… dead.

He slowly walked over to get a closer look. It was the same jumpsuit, slightly singed from fire and lasers. There were cuts and bruises all over where long fall boots are supposed to go. Her dark chocolate hair was long, messy and pulled up in a ponytail. As he got closer, it was then that she looked at him. That at least gave him hope that she was alive. Stormy grey, familiar eyes glared at him, the emotions in them slowly turning into fear and hatred. He remembered that her eyes seemed to spark and summon lightning whenever she figured something out or had an idea. Simulated emotions surged though him once again when he realized it was her. **It was her.** Oh, no. No no no no no no... Oh, God. Why? Why did it have to be her out of all of the humans in the world? It—it is her, right in front of him. Right there. And she wasn't looking too good either. Oh, he needs to know how to fix this and make things right. Let's hope he can still fix this anyway…


	2. The Fearful

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews and favorites. As always, here's the other chapter for you guys! Also, in this chapter, please mention if Wheatley is out of character or you couldn't read any of the quotes in his voice. I need to spend more time on that. Again, as I said before, don't be shy to give me some supportive criticism!**

**Chapter 2 (The Fearful)**

Oh God, He didn't know how to fix this! Wheatley wasn't a human expert, or a doctor, or anything close to that. He wasn't programmed with that type of stuff. He couldn't even tell the dead from the alive when he took care of all of those test subjects, way back then. So, if he had a bad experience back then, taking care of all of the subjects, how will he ever even be able to help her in this situation? Heck, he didn't even know what was wrong with the woman for her to be lying on the ground like that. It wasn't a good sign, that's for sure. Whenever someone is on the ground and is not sleeping or resting, it's always a bad sign, for he learned that a while ago. He thought for a moment and an eye-opening realization hit him hard. Oh no… She didn't go far. It was only around a 30 minute walk from this point back to the labs. It was depressing thinking about that. She went this far to enjoy her freedom for 30 minutes until she couldn't go any farther, and she's dying here. That was an extremely horrible thought and it was UNFAIR, she deserved her freedom, without injuries, and he now realized how vulnerable she was, lying here on the dirty and muddy ground. Who knows what is happening inside or outside of her right now. Right at this instant, when the thought occurred inside his artificial brain, he wanted to help her. He wanted to help her, but at the same time, he didn't know how and wanted to leave her as much as he wanted to help. He would most likely make things worse or get in her way or possibly even kill her with him trying to assist her. However, that would be nasty, and selfish act after all he's done to her, to leave her like this. To leave her, being so delicate, and almost to the point of death, was not an option. No, he couldn't live thinking that the strongest woman in the facility died outside the laboratory, and he could have helped her. It wasn't a just a 'want' anymore, he needed to help her. It was a very strong need, and no one is going to stop him…Not even Her, that is if she finds out.

Finally, he realized what is maybe holding her down was her right leg. It was bruised badly and crooked at an uncomfortable and undoubtedly painful angle. He has seen this before, when subjects forgot their long fall boots (mostly from brain damage) although, the sad, brutal fact is they didn't live long right after that. That was what his old companion had, currently. She had a broken leg. What a shame that humans were such fragile things and they could die from so many common injuries. She was still breathing so that was a start. And she still looked very much alive, maybe not a healthy and painless woman, but she was alive. Oh, but why did she get her long fall boots off the moment she needed them the most? She was too smart and too clever to ever do a thing like that.

Golly, she was living here all this time when he walked outside. He was so oblivious that she was outside that he didn't even realize that she was here all along. She was here all along. It was like destiny and luck combined when he saw her, and it surprised him like an unexpected shock out of nowhere. It was then he wondered how long it was since she was stuck here. Without help. Without comfort, or any other form of humanity. He's wondering if she's either full of rage on how unfair the world has been to her, or if she was now going into insanity.

Her eyes were still glaring at him, he noted silently to himself. She didn't have to speak. She didn't even have to utter one single word to express every last drop of emotion inside of her. He saw the face of pure hatred, anger, fear and betrayal all inside of her eyes. The message was clear enough for anyone to see, it wrote, "Stay away from me," on every square inch of her body language. It was a defense stance and he would bet that she didn't want him at any close distance where he could hurt her, so he backed up a few feet. She didn't trust him, not one bit, and it was understandable. However, all of her defenses were down, that's probably why for the first time in a long time; Wheatley saw her panic mixed with her anger. She couldn't run, her leg will slow her down and there's no doubt that it would be painful walking on that thing. She didn't have her portal gun, probably somewhere up in space, and there really aren't any portal surfaces out here anyway. So, she was out of options. What can she do? Nothing. Although that didn't let him go of the feeling that she could split him to shreds with nothing but her bare hands if he got too close to her.

Wow, he just realized that this is his chance, and probably the only chance he'll ever get, to show that he is sorry. He backed up a few more feet to see if her expression softened a little bit, but it never did change. So, he just started with, one drawn out sigh [of course, he couldn't breathe, it was just his vocal processors that made the sound] before he started, "Right,…I—…Well, this going to be much harder than anyone thought it would be, huh?" He nervously laughed, despite the simulated emotions of guilt running through him, "Anyway, I know what you might be thinking, and it's possibly on the lines of, 'Oh, that moron came back here and he's going to bloody kill me for the fun of it, isn't he?' Well, I'm not going to do that to you…" He honestly didn't know what else to say for a few seconds before he remembered and took a vocally processed breath, "Look, my point is, that I'm… sorry. I'm sincerely sorry for trying to kill you and betraying you, and pushing you into that pit, and everything else I forgot to mention that was monstrous. I was much worse than Her, really, and I'm not just sayin' that, love. I know, I know, sorry is just one word and it wouldn't heal everything right away. Although, _if _I could go back, back on that decision on pushing that button and putting me into control, the good old days when we were…were partners in crime, do you know what would I say? I'll tell you to not push that button. Worse mistake ever. Well… I'm sorry. That's all I was thinking back in space and I recited it over and over and over again. I'm so sorry for everything back there. I deserve any punishment you bring to me, honestly. Ah, as long as it doesn't hurt _too _much, though. I would appreciate that greatly…" He finished, but her expression never changed, and he gave out a sad look before he continued on, "Could you, er, possibly forgive me? I'll absolutely understand if you don't, it would just make me feel much better in this situation. Gets the all that weight of my shoulders."

The woman shook her head violently, and Wheatley could have sworn ten thousands of compact, negative emotions shot through him like a bullet. As he said before, she didn't have to speak to voice out her opinion, because her reply to his apology was clear. It read, "No, I'll never forgive you. Not today or in another a million years. Never."

"Understandable, understandable," Wheatley muttered. However, he was getting the need to apologize again, but he held his tongue.

"Um, I know you don't forgive me and there's a probable chance that you will never forgive me ever again, with that response. But, there's seems to be a problem. Do you, uh need help? It looks like you do, because I'm stating the obvious, right now: you're on the ground. Completely on the floor…Uh…immobile, it seems," Wheatley was lost in the train of thought for a few seconds and thought and thought of an idea to help her, "Oh! I got an idea. It's brilliant! So, I can help you. Of course, only if you want me to. I mean, I'm no doctor but some of the old scientists were! If I can find something that can help that leg of yours, maybe we can get you up and walking again, huh? You know what? Maybe I should ask this first: Can you walk? To be a hundred percent honest, you don't look good. I mean, everything else looks fine, but your leg doesn't look at all good, now does it? I'm rambling again, aren't I? …Sorry. Alright, so here's the first option: I can go back into the labs, while She isn't looking, get you some medicine, and you'll be walking in no time! That is, if I can find any medicine for that type of wound you have. Which, I'm going to lay the cards on the table, I'm not a hundred percent sure that that will happen. Or, second option: I can just leave, and you don't have to ever see me again. No more being scared of old Wheatley walking back here. Although, I don't want to be Mr. Bad News here, but there's a minor chance that you will die if I leave you here. I don't want you to die here, to be honest. So, do you want me to help, lady?" Wheatley finished and to his surprise, she nodded a yes. It was a desperate yes. It was if she was pleading him to help, even thought she didn't trust him one bit.

"Oh, I wasn't really expecting that to work…um, hmmm…." Wheatley trailed off. He thought about what people needed to survive. Well, they needed water, but she was lucky enough to break her leg near a stream. It was…slightly muddy, but it could suffice right now, could it? It may not be healthy to drink that, but it's all they can afford (time-wise) right now and it would be so much healthier to drink from that stream than any other water provided in the labs. So, she has water. What else would she need to survive here? Hmm… Food! Of course! However, it didn't look like there was any source of food nearby. Well, maybe the apple tree would work. Last time he checked there were some left over. Humans eat that type of stuff, right? Oh, he'll just give it a guess.

"Say, lady. Are you hungry? You must have not eaten in ages! Er, you know what? Don't listen to that. I honestly don't know the last time you ate. Just a guess, if you don't mind me." Wheatley questioned his old 'frienemy'. He watched her response. For a start, the angry expression softened a little bit but he was sure if he stepped any farther to the twenty-foot boundary she placed in between them, it would come back in a heartbeat. In no time but a heartbeat. She looked away from him, but in the corner of her eyes she was alert for any sneak attack planned. After about a few seconds, she nodded a yes, and that proved that she trusted him at least a little bit to let him feed her. He felt accomplished already, even though they were separated from a long distance. [He wasn't complaining or anything, it was understandable…]

"Well, okay… I think there's an apple tree a small distance from here. I'll be right back. I promise!" He reassured her gently and walked away. Of course, he's looking every now and then at his virtual clock the old engineers and scientists equipped him all those years ago. He doesn't have too much time. It was 2:53 in the afternoon and he still needed to walk back. The 'not-sure-if-she-is-bluffing-or-not' death deadline was getting pretty close.

He fetched her an apple [which he forgot to mention, that he thought it was amusing that out of all of the types of food, it had to be an apple. Because their first conversation was when he asked her to say apple, to see if she was okay…] He could've sworn that he would have to use twenty-foot pole just to give to her without a threatening or frightened expression. Of course she gave out a threatened and fearful look before he handed it to her. It was quite humorous because as soon as she grabbed the apple, Wheatley went back to that twenty-foot boundary to make her at least a little more comfortable in his presence. [Who would actually feel comfortable in the presence of a murder? Honestly?] To his surprise, she gobbled it up quick, and seemed to calm down a little bit. It was kind of weird to watch, frankly. It just… disappeared. Ugh, humans were freaky. The eyes were probably the only thing he was able to handle. Although, any other features on the face, plain out gave him the creeps. The nose was either too big or too small on humans. Ears were freaky, just the way they looked. And long hair sprouted from their head, and (for males) sometimes on their face. Seriously, who came up with that? Ugh. However, there was one thing he couldn't stand and that was the mouth. Teeth creeped him out, but the tongue was the worse part. Ugh, just put that-put that tongue back in your mouth, where it is supposed to be. To say the truth, he hated it when people spoke, because he got to see their teeth and their tongue swaying on the sides of their mouth at every word they uttered a word. Just disgusting… And there was the slobbery stuff in their mouth, and, ugh he preferred not to talk about that now. That was probably the reason why Wheatley didn't mind the lady's muteness, as long as she listened. That was the best quality in her, besides her cleverness and button-pushing skills.

"Right… I need to go, lady. But, erm… I'll be back with some medicine tomorrow! If, on the off chance I don't get caught by Her. Well, see you around." Wheatley stated, and he waved at her, a common human goodbye/greeting gesture. Her expression was still alert and angry but she managed to soften it up a little, in her way to tell him goodbye.

…There's one thing for sure, and that is that he is never going to let her down. Not this time. Never again.

** AN: Yes! Tomorrow is the last day of school for me! Celebration! I'm free, I'm free! Anyway, yeah, cheers for reading! **** I'll get the next chapter up here soon, whenever I get bored again. Might even be tomorrow, no promises on that though. **


	3. Sticks, Stones, and Broken Bones

**AN: *Long but important author's note* I'm now letting you guys know that this is going to have future Chelley, so if you cannot tolerate the ship, it's just a warning that it may happen. (*hides in corner* Um… and I'm not a bone fracture expert… I DID do my research for about an hour but if something is incorrect, let me know.) And if Wheatley is out of character, I apologize; give me some feedback if you think he is though. He is a very challenging character to me, and I don't really know why, because some authors are amazing at him without even trying… *Cough* Author of Blue Sky *Cough* **

** Oh, this is the longest chapter in this fan fiction so far; it filled around 9 pages in Word. I hope it's worth the wait. Also, this is where the teen rating starts kicking in, I had fun writing insanity on the last few paragraphs but I understand that some people find it highly distasteful. If you are one of those people, just a warning on the big italic past tense paragraphs near the end, (you will see what I mean when you get to it…) it contains a lot of that stuff. Also, I have a writer's block; this took 7 hours give or take, so please give me criticism! :D You guys are lucky that I love you and myself enough to do this!**

**Chapter 3 (Sticks, Stones and Broken Bones)**

Once he was back home at the laboratory, Wheatley couldn't stop thinking about how he needed to help her again. He needed to do this. He needed to save her. It felt like it was his full responsibility that she was stuck on the cliff side with a broken leg. If he was there, he would have told her something to prevent that, but there's no going back on the past, it's impossible. However, now that she is stuck and for the first time, there's nothing she could do to get out of there without assistance, he felt like he was programmed to help her and keep her alive. The whole thing felt kind of ridiculous. Did he also mention that no one in this world is going to stop him and in the process, he might get in big trouble or do something stupid, anyway? Oh, yeah, he might have said that earlier. Well, he will like to repeat that nothing is going to stop him (except maybe fear and a death risk, then he'll leave and abandon the mission as long as she'll at least be a little safe) He wants to be as selfless as possible though, he wouldn't want to be selfish like he was when he was in control of the facility. There was no doubt, he was going to help at all cost, but the ongoing question still ringed into his ears (for the last time, it's not literal, stop bugging him…). It was a question of how. How was he going to do this? Just how? He isn't necessarily good at this type of stuff, such as taking care of humans, especially if they are in pain. I mean, he had an excellent plan, something considered rare for him to accomplish, but how would he not, you know, mess something up in the process? Especially if he would hurt old what's-her-name. He didn't want to hurt her ever again, maybe when he was in chassis and fully power mad, but not now. Not ever again. Although, he is afraid that he will let her down for the second time. If there was a thing that Wheatley was good at, it was at messing something up. Another thing was that he was good at was failing without even trying one bit. He would just close his eyes and something horrible would happen that he was accused of, which sometimes, this was quite accurate.

Well, the only way that he would be able to help her, is if he asked _Her_ if there even was an old medical wing in Aperture at all. He didn't know if there was, but he could at least ask for directions. She would probably become really curious if he would ask that, either that or she just won't care one bit, let's just bet our lives on the second one. Oh, he would have to face his fear just to help her without anything in return. Sometimes this is rare for him to do. Wait, what is he thinking? He will get a reward, eventually, and that would be her forgiveness and old friendship…maybe. You see, he wasn't good at making friends. Every personality construct would make fun of what he was programmed for before they would even get to know him. It was frustrating making new friends, especially the test subjects. They would all have major brain damage, and most of them died before he even got to know their names. He was friends maybe with the humans a long time ago. If you could count them as friends anyway… He would just chat with them sometimes but most of them just replied with, "Shut up, Wheatley, I'm working on some high tech stuff right now." or some of them were at least a little polite and with diplomat style, they would say, "Sorry, I can't talk right now, hon. Maybe after work." Either way, the point is that they didn't really listen to him one bit or even cared for the matter. It was probably because he failed at his one job that he was programmed for: to distract _Her_, to prevent her from killing and murdering everyone in this very room, by just lowing her intelligence. That was what he was made for, being an idiot. Golly, do know how many times anyone would get fun of that job? Well, mainly put it, it was a lot of times.

Oh, good God, just go face her anyway. You're going to be standing here forever at this rate. Wheatley likes to think that his old human friend was depending on him when he was about to confront _Her_. Who knows? Maybe she is depending on him, for the first time in a long time. Wheatley tried to make himself relax, but failed in the process when he questioned, "Hey, um can you hear me? I would like to ask a question, it's really important. It would only waste about a minute of your time, at the most, and possibly even a few seconds! That's all it would take…"

"What do you want this time?" GLaDOS's cold voice echoed around the facility's walls, her voice was like a harsh winter storm that will forever terrify and haunt him. He didn't know what a winter storm looked like but I suppose you get the point. Are they terrifying, anyway? He would like to know if he was using that correctly. Anyway, as he said before, there was a chance that she will kill him and she could murder him quickly or slowly. Either way would be painful, and her voice always reminded him of that chance. There's no doubt that one day she will eradicate him or punish him in a very gruesome way. He ignored the feeling right now, although it was very difficult to ignore.

"Um, I was wondering if there was possibly an old medical wing in the facility, and if on the slim chance there is, where exactly is it?" Wheatley finally asked. He gave himself a silent victory in his head; he finally had the nerves to do that!

"Look, moron. I understand that you are an idiot but I didn't know that you were that unintelligent to think that a medical wing can help you. Because it can't help you." GLaDOS coldly replied.

"Uh, I knew that. Although, could you possibly just answer the question? –Oh God, that sounded rude, didn't? I didn't mean that, sincerely didn't mean it. I know my place; I'm not in control of this facility. You are, you are the… erm, boss, and you could potentially murder me any second. Uh, please don't do that by the way, I know I deserve it, but you get the point. So, you must be asking yourself, 'Why should I help you?' Here's your reason: I found—" He trailed off._ "Don't say that you found her you moron, that will only make things worse!" _Wheatley thought to himself before saying, "You know what, it's just really important to me right now, and since I'm staying here for a long time, I would just like to know. You know, just for old times' sake." Wheatley tried to reason.

"Well, since it's so important to you, I won't tell you. Instead, I'll just watch to see you fail at a simple task. It would be fun…_for me_. And just to get the fun started, there is a medical wing; you just need to find it on your own. There, are you happy now?"

"Hmm… I'm going to be honest, I'm not quite as happy, but cheers for listening, anyway!" Wheatley thanked with somewhat fake happiness at the last bit.

Surprisingly, out of nowhere, _She_ laughed. Oh, it wasn't a happy laugh, not the ones that would make you want to laugh or smile along, either. It was cold, and it was like a rattlesnake finally ejecting it's venom into a human's bloodstream except with no warning, unpredictable. (Rattlesnakes do that right? Maybe that's something he should look into because he is not quite sure about that. For it does sound utterly terrifying... Just the word, 'Rattlesnake', ugh…)

"I'm kidding. You will be searching here forever. As fun as that would be, it get annoying quick. The medical wing is by the old abandoned relaxation centers. You should _recognize_ them…" GLaDOS finally spilled it out and then continued, "And since I'm being so nice to you, I'm letting you know that your punishment is going to be twice as cruel, moron. Just a friendly reminder that I would like to put out there…"

"Um, Thanks, I guess…" Wheatley stated, trying not to panic at her last few words that she uttered to him.

It took him a few minutes to find it and it was frustrating GLaDOS, he could tell. Eventually _she_ just stopped paying attention and went back to cooperative testing with those two testing bots. Eventually a few minutes became a few hours at the rate where he was going. Stop judging him silently and give him a break, just a portion of the facility is never ending, especially if you count the thousands of the now empty relaxation centers that were just a shadow of Aperture's past self. It was creepy that he was working here just a few weeks ago. It felt weird and abandoned; no one was here right now. Everyone was dead. _She_ would probably be able to list all the deaths by their old names (although some of them were classified such as old What's-Her-Name was…) The death list would probably go on forever with stuff like: fell into a toxic pit, bled out because bullets from turrets made their skin like Swiss cheese, starvation, dehydration, forgot their long fall boots, becoming hostile with _Her_ and then received lungs filled with neurotoxin, any attempts at wanting to be free, etcetera, and so on so forth. They were all horrible and dumb ways to die. And all of these people had lives, they had parents who cared about them (maybe…), friends who wondered where they went (again, that's a maybe…), and just a full out life besides just testing. The thought always haunted Wheatley. They were all gone and it felt like the ghosts of their now deceased bodies were haunting this place. Absolutely terrifying.

But then there was her, the rebel and the mute, the only known survivor and escaper of this place. She also was very handy with a portal gun a few buttons, no doubt, probably the best he had known. And she was free. The only one who was free, in fact and was not dead. Just the thought that his old human friend left this place without a thought of giving up or dying in the process, is completely and outstandingly unbelievable. She was undeniably unlike the rest of the humans he'd known. Everyone else died, and there is nothing anyone can do to help them. This was why it was so important to him that he wanted to help her. He didn't want all of the test subjects to die, especially her. She was much cleverer and more intelligent than the rest. She just couldn't die, and he kind-of worried if he was already too late. It was 7:00 in the morning right now, [it was always noon in Aperture though, for no one ever slept and everyone rarely went into sleep mode. Except him, Aperture was boring when you weren't programmed to do something, so every night he would get into sleep mode.] However, who knows? It was cold out there, and probably even colder last night, because he heard the sun sets in the outside world once it gets later in the day. Maybe she was freezing out there and dies because of it. Then again, maybe he's just being neurotic and freaking out too much… He doesn't know too much about humans, but they die of the most ridiculous reasons, so there's a chance that she's already dead. Oh, it's better if he just doesn't think about her and thinks about something happy, like puppies and rainbows and things like that out in the real world, and not an artificial one like in Aperture. However, that is much more difficult than you would think.

After a few hours of searching, he found it. Boy, he was relieved and he hoped that there was something for a broken limb or two that will still work. Let's cross our fingers that he's lucky and finds what he needs [Oi, but not on both hands, that is bad luck…] There was no cameras in sight, but that didn't make him feel secure one bit, he was still on the lookout if GLaDOS was watching his every move. In Aperture, security and privacy isn't guarantied and he hated that fact. That was probably why he liked the outdoors, there was privacy and no one could hear what you were saying as long you weren't screaming at the top of your lungs or you weren't in front of someone. Or at least he hopes that no one is watching him… It would be horrible if anyone knew what he was going through right now. In particularly, _Her_.

In the medical wing, there were old medicine bottles filled with pills or liquids for dealing with pain, lunar or portal surface allergens, bullets in your skin, scientific gels that somehow made their way into a skeleton, the after effects of brain mapping intelligence and personalities, common illnesses such as the flu and colds, and many more painful or annoying things that troubled humans. However, there were no bottles of medicine for broken limbs. Wheatley started to lose hope, he couldn't give up though. There just has to be something for broken bones! This was Aperture science, they thought of almost everything for anything anyone could think of and there is nothing for broken bones, not a thing?! Not even first aid kits that could help her? This was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous! He started to search in cabinets frantically but didn't find anything different for about twenty minutes. No, he can't leave her like this. This was probably the only way to forgiveness. He promised himself that he would help her! That he would get her out of that cliff side that she was stuck in. He wanted to help her so desperately it was kind-of scary but he still didn't want to come back just to say that there was nothing to help her and that she will probably end up dying next to the muddy stream by the cliff side. No, this cannot be happening! He wants forgiveness and none of these medicine bottles are going to help him.

Suddenly, he noticed a last lonely bottle in the corner of the dusty unused room. Once he read the bottle [he had to admit that he had to tilt it to different angles to actually make out the words] he couldn't believe it! The dusty unused bottle read in orange and black ink, "Aperture Science Medical Service™: Skeletal Traumatic Fracture Gel Treatment" Wheatley honestly didn't know what half of that meant, but he vaguely knew what a fracture was. (Wasn't it a broken bone?) Either way he just hoped and guessed that it was. Obviously, he also knew what treatment meant. It was the words of 'skeletal' and 'traumatic' that he didn't understand because it wasn't in his vocabulary. Traumatic sounds more like dramatic, and that's what he guessed for the word's meaning. Let's just hope that it's what he thinks it is, and give it to her, huh?

With slight difficulty, he opened the bottle. There was still plenty leftover, to his relief. It was a translucent milky green gel, he could barely read the directions but all he could understand was that you applied the gel to the skin and flesh around the broken bone and in about 2-3 weeks, it would heal, without surgery or bandages or anything that requires a fully trained doctor. And if you know Wheatley, he is the opposite of a fully trained doctor. Heck, he didn't even know how some the medicine in this room fixed humans and was surprised he could understand this one. He had no idea how it worked without bandages or hospitalized treatment but this was Aperture science we are talking about here. The inventers of the portal gun, (which the idea is ingenious in itself, but creating it required an Einstein) gels that made you jump and run, and brain mapping intellect and personalities into AI's and computers, allowing their past human selves to live forever. It was best if you didn't ask questions as long as it worked and did the job, there's no point in questioning it. He closed the lid and gave out a not so silent victory.

He couldn't get off the feeling that GLaDOS was getting suspicious on his actions, especially if she saw him having an artificial panic attack trying to find the right medicine for the human. Might as well hide the medicine or at least try to not let her see it, it would only make her more curious and curiosity will make her find out eventually what he is hiding. He cannot make her find out that he's taking care of GLaDOS's main past downfall and enemy, and he still didn't know if she let her go or she escaped herself. She'll possibly think he is plotting to get himself free when that is not _entirely_ true. Either that or she will assume that he will kill _her_ as well and have just this strange murder party with the human. Hmm…yeah, that actually sounds fun if he was a murderer this time around. Maybe _she_ also regrets letting her go and then will take her in the facility again, so the human would think that Wheatley betrayed and used her all this time by revealing the truth to GLaDOS. Ugh, let's not think about 'maybes' and 'mights' or 'possibilities', he always comes up with the worst expected situations when he thinks like that. Might as well go with the flow; see if _She_ doesn't even notice when he asks to be outside, and if she does notice what's he's hiding, well, he will be the only one punished, right? It's risky but helpful to his old friend (he told himself that he will learn her name this time around maybe in a few weeks or months) if he makes it without _Her_ punishing him or even caring for that matter.

He went back in the main chamber room (formly known as his "lair") after 2 hours of just walking around the facility and getting lost every few minutes. Of course _She_ gave him her evil trademarked, what-are-you-doing-here-moron look.

"Erm, could I go outside?" Wheatley asked very nervously, trying to hide the bottle and it was actually working, to his very much surprise. If only he could keep the poker face that he was pulling, because he was absolutely horrible at lying or hiding things, especially to things he fears. She didn't say a thing, only brought down the lift. Wheatley had the feeling that he couldn't hide this forever, _She_ was so much more intelligent than him, she'll probably figure this out the second time he goes outside if he isn't careful. He needs to be so much more careful and less conspicuous and a mystery. However, he's really lucky this time. Really, really lucky he got away with that.

Eventually, he walked near the cliff side by the apple tree and found her lying with her back to the floor. He started to panic because her eyes were not open. It was still fairly early, however, and she may be fast asleep. And to his relief after he got closer, she was, because her stomach kept moving up and down in a gentle and relaxed slow motion, the first sign of a human breathing. Which he was surprised he noticed that, usually he couldn't tell whether if people were dead or asleep. There was a lot of things that particularly surprised him today…He backed up again after knowing that she was alright, because she could wake up at any moment and he didn't want to terrify her the moment she got up.

People looked much younger and better when they were fast asleep, to say the truth. Wow, that's sounds creepy, doesn't it? Although, it is true. The dark circles around her eyes seemed nonexistent and despite her wounds, she looked healthy and well for a human. He's not quite sure if healthy counted if you could see their cheekbones and ribs jut out inside their skin but other than that, she looked healthy and young.

His artificial heart sunk when he recognized a gash, however. It was a severe burn on her left shoulder about the size of a large baseball. It was blistering and charred around the edges of the wound, and it exposed some bleeding muscle. Gosh, it appeared that it probably hurt like Hell. And he knew where it was from. It was from him and he remembered the story the moment he saw the gross looking injury.

_/:accessing memory/_

_/: date: 4/18/2056, 9:47 p.m/ _

_He was yelling as loud as he could, half the reasons he didn't even know why and the other half was because he was losing his mind and going into insanity and frustration. He was absolutely mad. Two cores were attached to him, saying things that threw him off of his focus. One of them was flirting to the woman attacking him; the other was chanting about how great outer space was and how desperately he wanted to go there. There were just so many voices…Too many voices, most of them were yelling. There was so much yelling, most of it was from him but the anger in the corrupted chassis seemed much louder than his own voice. No one else could hear its haunting, corrupting voice, as long as you weren't plugged in into the chassis. It was chanting and yelling many things that he should do or say, expressing every single drop of anger to his former friend that he really didn't feel at all. The chassis was repeatedly throwing lies in mind and it was making him mad. He wanted it to stop! Then there was her, his ex-best friend, acting as if this was a daily part of her life, not saying a word, nor going into panic even though bombs were being thrown at her every five seconds and there was a countdown clock to an upcoming explosion. Adrenaline was pulsing through her veins and her clothes were dampening with sweat. He couldn't turn the bombs off, but he remembered vaguely that he wished that he could at that time. Most of the bombs weren't even hurting or affecting her one bit, but it was being used against him, only making him more troubled and livid than he was before. Every time he would wake up, there was a new core on him. Another distraction, another problem that he couldn't erase and another voice. _

_So, as he was throwing the bombs repeatedly, yelling and accusing her of things that she didn't even do, eventually he got the upper hand on her tricks. Once he put up the bomb-proof shields on him, which almost completely protected him, she was getting a little frustrated on trying to find a way to reflect a bomb back at him to a weak spot. He could tell because of her expression but also, but this was also her fourth try at it and she was running out of time. Probably all of that yelling didn't help her concentrate. He felt happy and he was enjoying himself, he even remembered cheering about his success. Wheatley was getting very close to slaughtering her, actually both of them and even himself in the process if that countdown clock went faster. He didn't care at this point in time. He was too insane and far gone, there was not a care in the world, all he wanted right now was to murder her, something She could never accomplish. That's all he wanted right now, it was huge obsession of his. He would give up his artificial life just knowing that he could do something no one else could accomplish and that was killing this seemingly defenseless and weak woman. Heck, she isn't even an AI! It could be easy, like breaking a toothpick. He didn't need her anymore. She could get out of his way and out of his mind. Wheatley didn't even want her anymore, now that he found those two bots. He didn't have any reasonable thought and went ballistic and almost impossibly red as beet with rage that was pointed directed at her as he was jeering and screaming at her._

_Eventually, there can only be so many tries before she gives up or just dies. She has to stop working one day! Whether that is here or out in the real world, she's going to die either way. And that day is going to be today! And her warm blood is going to be on his hands and her dead body is going to fall right in this room! She'll die, right here, right now. There will be no mourning and he believes that he will never get haunted by this. This will be an achievement, a big major victory in his life. He is going to be her downfall, her end to the story, in which the epilogue is already starting, love! He didn't know or even care if he was going insane, there was nothing that felt greater than right now and other people will get sick thinking about this, but to him it felt great! Oh God, he didn't know why this felt so marvelous! It felt so amazing thinking about that he's really going to take life away from her! He will have his revenge finally after all the things she has done to him! Absolutely no one is going to stop him, either way. And he'll show them that he's not a moron; after all, what kind of moron can break this clever girl? What kind of moron can kill this clever girl after all she's been through? **NOT HIM**. **Not old little Wheatley!** If he was such a moron, he couldn't murder this really intelligent and bright woman, with the mind of a fast railroad track, because no simple moron can kill a person like that! You'll have to have some type of brain chip in you to be able to do that! He'll show Her, oh yeah, he'll show Her, right here, right now in this very room, his lair. She'll be amazed! It would be just like a magic trick, with him being the puppet master, involving blood, it would be great! Everything was going to be just…fine! _

_The human placed a portal on the ground and on of the side of the wall, trying to think of a way to destroy him. Do you hear that, she wants to destroy him! After all they had been through! After all of the sacrifices he committed to get this far! She wants to kill him and get him out of control! She wants to put Her back in charge, and he thought he was doing a great job at the facility. But no, it's not good enough, isn't it?! No saying, "Nice job, Wheatley for taking great care for this facility! You're doing a better job than Her, mate! I'm proud of you!" No, none of that! All he ever wanted in the first place was for her to be proud of him, but no emotion showed! He wanted her to be proud! He thought they were friends, and that's what friends do, they are proud of each other and happy for each other! This was the only accomplishment he had! No, no all she ever cared about was freedom! She didn't give a bloody care in the world on what happened to little old Wheatley, didn't she!? No wonder she has no friends. And now she finally pays attention to him now that he is the bad guy!? Seriously! She didn't care until he was plugged into the facility! She didn't even notice him one bit! It angered him and even made him feel disheartened with his anger. It was all just a big horrible stew of negative simulated emotions that swirled around him and he didn't know what exactly to feel, say or react. Sadness, rejection, insanity, rage, and anger, a bit of accomplishment, a bit of happiness, frustration, hopelessness, fury, and even more rage and more insanity: this is what he was feeling currently. And it was all because of this one girl! This one girl was causing him so much emotional and physical pain it almost frying his insides! If he wasn't in control of this facility, he would literally not have enough volts to keep all of these emotions! He'd never been this livid before in his life. _

_As he continued to be upset, he threw one last bomb in his phase before it would stop. Golly, he hated that, that four second pause in-between each 4-7 bombs he thrown. However, to his surprise, she slipped off the edge, fell through the portal she placed a few minutes ago and the corner of the last bomb hit her on her shoulder. She fell through the other portal into the ground and she gave out an "Nnghh!" sort of painful noise. It was the first time he hurt her. It was bleeding and he felt so happy for that. Overjoyed. However, this was also about time that the conscience part of him just basically screamed, "What ARE YOU DOING! This is your only friend, for God's sakes, Wheatley. You're going insane!" It hit his artificial heart, and if the chassis would stop screaming at him and if the attached cores would just shut up for once, he would want to stop and say that he was sorry. However, that didn't happen, he was too far gone to think of reasoning. He ignored it, as she ignored her bleeding wound. She just WOULD'NT give up, and made him upset more than ever. How is she still alive after all this time? For the rest of the fight, her hand was clutching her shoulder in pain, as a red liquid slightly dripped on the heard that red liquid is harmful for humans if they start leaking that. But he didn't care, maybe it would be his favorite color! His favorite liquid… _

_Eventually a last final bomb hit him and he blacked out. When he woke up a third core was attached to him, allowing a core transfer to begin. Before he even knew what was going on, he was launched to the moon and then stuck in space, with nothing but guilt and an annoying companion by his side. And he thought that it was the end story… He thought it was the epilogue. _

_/:End of memory/_

_/:Current_Visual_Processors: Back online/_

Be glad that you don't have to relive memories whenever you remember them. That's what all Aperture devices do and it is annoying and frustrating. Oh, he hopes he doesn't have to do that again. Wheatley hopes and prays that he will never see himself insane like that again and never has to feel his thoughts and his feelings during that time. He hates the memories and hopes for them to leave one day. One day, he'll delete them when he figures out how to, that is. It's horrible reliving them. He felt guilty again and if he was human, he would probably cry right now. He wanted to; it would make him feel better.

Although, that's over though, right? He's never hurting her again. Never. He has the medicine, he could help her. Maybe that wound would heal over time, too. She is sleeping peacefully and she's save from his insanity and _Her's_. She's safe. And he knows that he will never hurt her ever again. She probably doesn't know it, but it was the truth. And he'll show her the truth one day… She has to forgive him, she just has to…

**AN: Oh, this chapter was putting stress on my heart, literally, I don't know why I'm stressed right now. Oh well, goodnight. It's pretty darn late where I live. Hope you liked it. Hope you read it too, it was fairly long… Here's how much you read: 5,906 words. Cheers mate! :D**


	4. Vulnerable

**AN: Alright, there is a little gruesome bit in this chapter; I tried to make it the least gross as possible. Again, I'm sorry about that…**

**Chapter 4 (Vulnerable)**

Wheatley could have sworn a tsunami of relieve washed over him once she finally opened her eyes. He almost artificially yet calmly sighed out loud. He's been worrying the whole time. Although, he did stay at the distance that made her at least a little comfortable in his presence and he didn't "stare" at her. He heard that staring at humans made them feel uncomfortable and threatened if you glace at them for a while (He learned this the hard way, unfortunately. And ended up getting hurt.). That is why his optic seemed to fling all over the place whenever he was speaking to a human, so he isn't necessarily staring at them, that and he was really bashful and nervous all of the time. Gosh, how in the world can someone make a robot bashful? Well, again, he was an Aperture Science personality construct, meaning that he was more human than anyone would think, with that human personality and all. This made him think of a question. Was he a human before? And who exactly was he? Eh, he doubted his past and really preferred not to think about it.

After she woke up, the human stretched as much as she could without hurting her broken limb [which wasn't really a refreshing stretch, I should say]. She yawned slowly and rubbed her eyes, then glanced over at the muddy bank. She reluctantly took a drink from the heavily tinted, unfiltered water, giving out a disgusted expression right after. Ugh, he said it before and he's going to say it again: humans are gross. Who would drink mud? Just, ugh…The good news is that she hasn't noticed him yet, but he knows that it wouldn't stay that way. However, right at this moment, she looked at peace, and despite of all that was happening in her life right now, and despite the possible pain she was going through, she smiled to herself. He didn't honestly know why, it was probably the brain damage that caused that. After all, who would smile knowing that they are probably going to die down here? Well… Maybe she didn't know the odds of her survival… because that didn't make any sense. The smile was only brief, but the woman stayed surprisingly relaxed, leaning against a nearby oak tree that was behind her back. He had never seen her like this, he's seen her relaxed, but not this relaxed. And he wanted her to stay comfortable, she looked much better that way, when her eyebrows weren't furrowed in concern or stress, it reminded him of the time when they used to be friends… It didn't take her long to find Wheatley because Wheatley would not make a good spy or has good sheathe for that matter [be quiet, he wasn't spying on her!]. Her semi-peaceful expression transformed into the regular, old defensive position. Her eyebrows furrowed, her lips were pulled into a frown, her fingers clenched together, forming a fist and seemingly holding an invisible portal gun in her hands, and she was threatened alright. His least favorite expression of hers was now back, the one that read, "Stay away from me." Well, at least it wasn't the one smirk that read, "I'm going to kill you or I'm going to send you to the moon right now, you traitor, and you aren't even going to know a damn thing about it, and you're going to be confused as ever!" because that one was just brutally terrifying. He remembered that expression; it was the last one that he'd seen before he was sent into space. What was sad is that was the same grin that she gave GLaDOS when the core transfer was about to start. It showed that she hated him as much as she once hated GLaDOS, the one who actually imprisoned her in the first place. It was obvious that she still didn't trust him one bit. He hopes that would change. One day, he'll show her that he could be trusted, though. Maybe that day was today and maybe not. However, he is determined to show her.

"Oi! Lady! I got the medicine! Just found it few hours ago, really. You will be walking in no time! Uh, actually, in a few weeks to be exact… I'll also like to point something out: I'm not going to hurt you, so, don't worry. I know that you may not believe that, I understand. I'm just…erm trying to reassure you, in a way." Wheatley stated, showing her the bottle of gel treatment with his robotic hands. There was still a twenty-foot distance between them, and her expression was the same, however, she tilted her head curiously at the bottle.

He walked closer, as an attempt to give her the bottle and immediately regretted it, because her expression intensified until it read, "Okay! Back off! I'll tear you to pieces!"

"OH! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn't-um mean to make you uncomfortable, lady." Wheatley called out timidly, giving out a nervous laugh as well, while quickly moving back 10 feet until she started calming down a bit. He didn't want her to tear him to pieces one by one today…

"So, how exactly is this going to work? Do you want me to throw it to you? Woah, woah. Not in a violent way, of course. Bare with me, this might take some trust if you can't apply the medicine to yourself though; I'm just going to point that out there. Also, if you don't like the whole throwing idea, then we're going to have to get rid of this, um… lovely (very lovely, isn't it?) distance for me to at least give you the medicine. Might need some trust, I'm not asking too much, just enough trust where I could give you something. I just- I want to help you, I don't want to leave you here like this, lady. You don't look to keen about the idea of being stuck here, either. I just want to help…" Wheatley explained to the slightly disturbed and vulnerable woman in front of him.

She seemed to settle down at that statement and was lost in thought for a few seconds, biting her lip as she was thinking. Her gaze went back at him, it was less aggressive and defensive, and then she lifted her head up a little with a quick motion. At first he thought it was just a twitch, like the electrical ones he would usually get.

"Sorry, but um… what exactly was that?" He questioned. She then used her hands to motion him to her. He was nothing more than surprised.

"Do you… want me to go over there? Are you sure? Maybe I should have asked that one first, the first question was kind-of obvious." Wheatley muttered. In response, the woman sighed solemnly and nodded a yes, or her way of saying, "Sure, it's the only option we got." He found an audio file that imitated the noise of clearing a throat before stating, "Um, okay." Then, obviously, he walked over to her to about an arms distance away from her and brought the bottle of gel medicine that was the solution to her broken leg. Alright, he was no moron, he could tell that she didn't want to do this and that she was afraid of him. He especially noticed this when he went closer, the poor woman in front of him was looking at him with a fearful and timid expression, and yet, she was still also alert for any sudden movements. It was so unlike her, though. This wasn't the same woman he met back at Aperture, because the woman he met back there was never afraid, especially of him. The lady seemed more afraid of _Her_ than she ever was of him. Even then, she approached both of them without showing a speck of fear. He remembered that he sort of wished he had her courage and more importantly, her courage when she was facing _Her_. However, right now, she looked like a scared puppy and he didn't really know what to do about it. Why now, though? Why is she afraid or not hiding the fact that she was afraid? She is frightened of him, most likely that he will hurt her, since she had nothing right now. Nothing could help her in this situation. That was the fine line between the rebellious and seemly fearless lionhearted woman he met in Aperture, and the timid one he's seeing here, and it was all just based on her defenses. If she has her trusty portal gun, she'll never act afraid and never give any drop of artificial satisfaction to the insane AI's around her. However, she is defenseless and (if he really wanted to) he could kill her or harm her in a sort of act of revenge. Although he's said it a million times, he's going to say it again: he isn't going to hurt her. Not even if on the chance that corruption takes over him again, he'll find a way to not harm her. He doesn't want to go through a situation like this ever again.

"Hey. I'm not going to hurt you! Don't be scared of little old Wheatley here. I'm just going to give you some medicine so you can walk again, nothing painful. In fact, who knows? Might make you feel better! You'll be able to walk again, that's for sure. Walking's fun, isn't it? Being able to move your legs and that sort of thing. Just being mobile actually… Just d—don't scared okay?" He tried his best to calm her and showed his way of smiling, which wasn't really a smile, given the fact that he doesn't have a pair of lips or a mouth for that matter.

The woman didn't react one bit but she did take a deep, drawn out breath, and tried to calm herself. This, by the way, was hard considering her past companion who was once insane and tried to kill her, was at an arms distance away from her. She did notice that he talked differently, it was big difference, and he talked as if he was the same bashful, optimistic, and very nervous core he once was, correcting what he thought was wrong or rude and reassuring her (sometimes by lying) in times of emergency. However, this woman had really bad trust issues. Hey, if all the people you known or knew attempted to kill you and force you into tests that you didn't want to be apart of, there's not a doubt that you would have trust issues as well. She still didn't forgive him, not one bit, and she hopes she never will. Sure, she may have forgave that potato a little bit when she was forced down that pit, but that was because she needed her desperately in order to gain her revenge on that horrible traitor that was previously a companion. You know what they always say, the enemy of your enemy is your ally. That was a dire emergency and without her former rival's help, they would have both died, that was how big the emergency was. Well, this was an emergency in its way and she needed him, I guess. She had to admit, it was kind of him to go back into Aperture to give her some medicine. Without him, she would be stuck here for a long time, until she dies. So, she didn't know what was the difference between these two dangerous situations that caused her to not forgive Wheatley already. God, she didn't want to forgive him… Although, maybe it was the fact that this person was once her best friend, the only one who made her smile, the only one who really help her gain freedom, and the only one who wanted that freedom as much as she did. And he broke her trust. He used her. He betrayed her. He even tried to kill her when he didn't need her anymore and instructed her to commit suicide, but that was a different Wheatley, a much darker Wheatley, in fact. However, she still somehow trusted him a little bit, even though she was scared of him? It didn't make any sense and it perplexed her. Wheatley was able to do a thing that she thought was impossible: confusing her.

"Right, so I'm sure you don't want me to, um, apply the medicine, judging from your fear. Again, nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be afraid of, lady. Uh, just let me know if you can at least touch your leg. Can you do that for me? Just want to make sure, because as I said earlier, I might need at least a little more trust from you if you can't reach your leg without any pain." Wheatley rambled a bit.

The woman sighed. She exposed the broken bone by tugging on her pants with the hand on by her thigh. The former test subject didn't attempt to sit up yet, she was afraid that she will hurt herself in the process. However, she saw glimpse of her injury in the sunlight and she grimaced at just the little sight of the bruise and bent bone under her skin. _"What in the world did you get yourself into, Chell?!" _She thought to herself. At least bone wasn't exposed and didn't tear through her flesh; she heard that was much worse. However, that didn't stop it from looking disgusting. Wheatley even did his own little cringe at the sight of the wound. Once she looked at his expression, he changed it, and he just reassured her by stating, "Ugh, that looks horri—…You know what, ignore that, love. Looks better than I thought it would be. Looks okay, not exactly normal, but it looks decent, I suppose..."

It was then that she tried to sit up, she didn't know what happened but it was a pitiful attempt, and because of the aches in her muscles, she fell back down. She bit her lip in concern and worry. Seriously, how did she get herself in this? She survived so much in the world with a heart of lion and a pokerface. She survived through every deathtrap that any artificial intelligence threw at her and here she is, barely surviving this?! Ugh… it wasn't at all fun.

She tried many attempts to get up, in fact she counted four but she was strangely never able to reach her leg. It was probably because of exhaustion, she hasn't slept well these past few days, and she's only gotten at most three hours of sleep last night. It was then that Wheatley offered help, just to apply her medicine. She didn't trust him, nor liked him for that matter but what other options did she have at this moment? She needed him right now, well, at least until her leg finally healed. The former test subject took a sigh and then handed him the medicine bottle.

"Are you sure? Because it is clear that you don't trust me, lady. I don't want to make you uncomfortable as well, because it says here on the directions that you have to straighten the bone here, and I'm not exactly sure if you would trust me enough to do that…" Wheatley stated ruefully, causing the poor woman next to him to cringe and mouth some unfriendly language at the idea of putting her bone back where it was supposed to be. Straightening it would undoubtedly be painful, and he didn't think about that. It would hurt her, completely. However, it would help her at the same time. Good thing he wasn't a doctor though, or that is, he didn't have to be. You didn't have to straighten it perfectly, like it mentioned before, it didn't need a professional doctor or a genius to heal this leg with the gel. He continued talking though, "Probably be easier if you did it. Might be painful, as well. However, I did notice that you cannot get up, so maybe we're out of options here. So with your permission, I'll go ahead and begin. Only with your permission, of course." He looked at her leg and frowned. It looked repulsive and must be very agonizing, God. He just wished that she could get up and do this herself; he really didn't want to do this. It would mean that he will hurt her, without a doubt and he doesn't know what type of pressure he should use anyway. He didn't want to pop the bone completely out, they would be in more trouble than right now. He also didn't want to make it like a slow torture scene. Wheatley just flat out didn't know what to do, as always.

The whole idea of placing her broken bone in a way so that it will heal correctly, only made her more terrified than she was before. Although, the pain will stop, won't last forever and this will help her anyway. He isn't going to hurt her because he wants to. Heck, he even is asking her permission to assist her; it's not like she is defenseless and doesn't have a choice anyway. She could say no, she could and all of this would stop, however that won't help her get out of this situation, and she will choose a death penalty. What other choice did she have though? Besides just dying anyway, there was not another solution. The woman couldn't sit up to manually move her broken bone; she didn't even want to do that. It would be quicker and the pain will die down much faster if he had the job and not her. Her brows furrowed, she closed her eyes, and she bit her lip as an expression of facial contortion and then gravely nodded, looking away from the direction of her leg. Oh, she hoped this was worth it…

"What? Was that a yes? Uh…I have to admit; this is going to really hurt, most likely. So, just hang in there, love. You can…um, hold my hand if you want to," Wheatley stated, for he heard that holding hands was a comforting gesture. "I'm sorry I'm not being at all optimistic about this but I don't want to lie right now… So, let's begin. On the count of three," Wheatley declared, very, very nervously. Although, before he could count to just one, she started kicking him with her unbroken leg. "Ow, what?! What is it?... Oh… Is it because you don't want a countdown? Is that it?" Wheatley asked her. She nodded, and looked almost at the point of tears. Wow. Is it going to hurt that much? Her reactions didn't reassure him at all. As he said before, he didn't want to hurt her like he did before when he was insane, he doesn't want a repeat of that. "Alright… Let's go on one this time. Ready? Here we go. One!" Nothing happened, and he didn't move the bone one bit. He was a nervous wreck. _"Oh for God's sake, Wheatley just get it done and over with," _He thought to himself and then apologized, "Sorry. I'm just—I'm nervous and I'm in pretty hot water here, I don't really want to hurt you. Maybe I should shut up now for once. That is a good idea… Um… Here we go… On one," Wheatley started to get ready, and the woman looked away, still biting her lip. "One!" He explained, as he moved the bone back into place. She screamed a "Gah!" sort of noise and him repeating, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," with unnatural speech speed didn't really help the situation. However, in about ten seconds, it was over. The woman grimaced and was panting with her breath. The hard part was over. "See, all done, all done! Uh, let's pray to God, or whoever you worship, that we don't have to do that again, huh? That wasn't necessarily fun in my books. Not literal. Don't pay attention to that, that was a metaphor." Wheatley said nervously. He was relieved that that was over. And he could tell that she was glad that was over as well.

"Alright. I'm going to get out the medicine right now. I'm not quite sure if it is going to hurt. So, brace yourself on the off chance that it does hurt." Wheatley, in his own sort of way, somewhat calmed her, despite the pain she was in right now. Oh, please don't let it hurt, she was sick of hurting right now. She never knew how great having no pain felt like until she has been in a situation like this one. The former test subject wanted all of her nerves to be washed out, because it was more annoying than troubling now. The only thing she didn't like in her situation right now besides the pain is that he was touching her. Not anywhere that made her uncomfortable, thank God, but he was still touching her leg. Everytime he held her leg without warning, she flinched. She was still absolutely terrified of him. It was silly of her though. She never thought that she would be scared of bubbly, not-so-bright, nervous Wheatley.

He was wrong about the medicine, though. It felt like a warm massage to her and all the pain seemed to wash out from her leg. She brought out a slow, peaceful exhale and then got into a comfortable position. The woman barely even noticed that she wasn't even glaring at him anymore. She continued to relax and Wheatley nervously laughed. Great, it wasn't hurting her! That was the good news in all of this. He 'smiled' at her.

The woman continued to relax, until while Wheatley was rambling, he realized that she was fast asleep (again, he was afraid that she just died…). "Oh… Well, g'night, love! See you tomorrow, maybe," Wheatley confirmed. He could have sworn that she somewhat smiled, in her way of saying goodbye, either that or she was dreaming peacefully. He gave her a few apples so that when she got up she was able to eat, before he left. However, he still couldn't believe it took him this long to realize that she's not bad for a human. He'll visit her again. That is without a doubt.

**AN: Bleh, I don't like the ending, I'm slowly getting a writer's block again. I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors here, I was a little too lazy to reread five times (that's also the only way to prevent errors for me, I don't know why). So, yeah. I'm sorry if that popping-the-bone-back-in-place thing made you cringe, it's the last time I will ever write something like that. Adios. **


	5. Early Thunderstorms

**AN: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry for a long update wait! I barely have an excuse! **

**Chapter 5 (Early Thunderstorms)**

Days passed and soon enough and as predicted, GLaDOS was getting nosy over Wheatley's suspicious actions. He would constantly ask to be put outside everyday and it's usually in the morning or early afternoon. And it was every single day starting from this week! Something was happening, something that she didn't know and it annoyed and bugged her constantly. When someone (such as GLaDOS) is intelligent to know just about everything there is to learn, the worst thing that could happen is when something perplexing happens to them. The questions seemed to always run in her head, questions that would leave her so baffled. What is that idiot doing? He never seemed to go outside this much. Also, what's with all of his nervous jumping and flinching whenever she calls him for his attention? She understands that the moron is a nervous wreck all of the time but this extent was far greater then his usual setting. What is going on in that idiot brain of his that she didn't know? What is it? Just what is it?! It was so unbearable thinking about it, and that moron's actions were wasting valuable time, and that time is used for advancing in science, not thinking about what was going on in that moron's head.

"Er, could you send out the lift please?" Wheatley asked nervously and as polite as he could. This was the fifth time in a row that's he has asked for a lift to the outside this week. She was so half tempted to send out the two testing bots after him, but surprisingly, she decided not to. …Maybe next time because good things, such as revenge, always go to the people who wait. And revenge is always best served cold, so she needs to find the right moment to strike. If she waits, the moron would be begging for forgiveness, of course she wouldn't forgive him at all, but that is what would make it fun. The right moment to strike revenge isn't now though, something inside of her could notice that. So, she reluctantly brought out the lift. GLaDOS didn't say a thing but her yellow optic gave out a warning to him. A warning that practically read, "I don't know what's going on but I'll find out…" Eventually, she will find out and she knows it. And even poor, old Wheatley knows that…

* * *

That last glace from GLaDOS absolutely terrified Wheatley. For a second, he thought she knew his secret, about taking care of the lady that was potentially dangerous and can come with a life risk. If you don't know already, it's been about a week since he first put on the medicine and had to put that disgusting bone back in place. Humans were sick, gross creatures, weren't they? And to say the truth, the things that he does to show her that isn't the same, corrupt core that he used to be, were very riskful to his own health. In fact, for the past four or five days visiting the human, he could tell that GLaDOS was getting more and more curious. And that wasn't a good sign. He won't be able to hide her for long and that scared him more than anything in the world. He didn't want to let her down anymore. He wasn't good at coming up with plans with his artificial brain, there's little to no way that he will be able to stop GLaDOS once she finds out. He won't be able to stop her one bit, because Wheatley wasn't good at planning, but he was much worse at just the basics of thinking. That is why he wished over and over again that he wasn't programmed to just be an idiot. He wished he was programmed to be more and something greater and unique.

Wheatley was surprised when he walked outside. The sky was no longer the blue that it had used to be. Instead of the beautiful aqua blue spotted with wool-like areas of white, they were all replaced with a gloomy grey and silver color. (Either that or his optic can no longer see blue colors…Oh, he wished that he could still be completely fixed) Another thing that really troubled him and actually made him jump in startlement, was that the sky was…leaking? Either that or tiny buckets of the sky was falling all at once, but he didn't know what to think. However when he notices that the heavy droplets were safe and didn't do anything that hurt him, a question popped up: was this bad for humans? Did being soaked with water lower a humans survival rates? Oh, no. Don't think about that, just don't think about that. She has to be safe. Being drenched in water wasn't the worst that has happened to her. Wheatley started to panic a little bit, thinking of the worse situations until he met the worst. He ran to the direction of the cliffside without a second thought.

His thoughts were all over the place now. Skipping from one topic to another without a break, like a schizophrenic pinball machine. One side of his thoughts were making this panic attack worse, while the other side of the thoughts were trying to ease him. It's going to be fine… It's all going to be fine right? This is basically what happened in his mind all of the time, except less intense I guess you can say, and usually he overreacts. And with his thoughts racing in his metaphorical head, he didn't feel at all content with what could possibly happen to the lady.

He was interrupted by a low but very loud boom. It stopped him in his tracks. What was that? A shotgun? Was someone after him? Did _She_ finally figure out what he was hiding and decide automatic death? Is he dead already? Wait, no, not yet. The thunder frightened him but what was the worse was how the sky looked. The rain drops were getting heavier and here soon it felt like buckets of water that fell from the heavens. Wheatley was fine, he wasn't made out of sugar and he was an Aperture construct, meaning that he was, in fact, water proof as long as the water wasn't toxic. What he was really concerned about was for the human, he knew that they were water proof but he didn't know if it made them freezing or lowered their survival rates at any extent with them being soaked. His running was interrupted yet again once he saw a flash in the sky followed by a deafening crackle and the all familiar boom that he heard a few minutes ago. This caused him to jump and scream out a "Gah". Wow, what was that? This never happened in Aperture. In fact, Aperture was a quiet place and it was never really dark unless you were trying to get out of her line of sight, then everything was pitch black and you heard a lot of mechanical noises and the soft, feminine voices of turrets. Out here it was just like that. It was like he was out of her sight and escaping again. However, it made it all the more terrifying because he didn't know what was going on. Why is it so dark when it is still day? Why is it not as quiet as before, and why aren't those petrifying birds twittering in the sky and flying all over the place? What in the world are those flashes in the sky and the loud noises that followed them? Wheatley was frightened again, but he has to see if the human was alright.

Mere humans were afraid of the unknown. If they didn't understand or study anything, they would be afraid of their own shadows, and that is quite literal. Humans are afraid of things that they don't know about, and as sad as it is, Wheatley has been the same so far. He didn't know what the outside current terrifying state was all about. He wasn't programmed to know really anything about the outside world. Mobile Aperture creations don't get programmed for that information because the scientists believed that they would try to escape out of the curiosity of the real world.

The booms and flashes were starting to get more frequent and before he gave up out of fear of the unknown, he found the forest that she was in. Wheatley decided not to go back now, after all, the rain was dying down a little bit and maybe the storm will die with it.

To his relief, she was still alive. Maybe she wasn't in the greatest condition of her life but her heart was still pumping inside her chest, and that's all that really mattered at the moment. She was drenched in mud and water, for the oak tree she was laying by didn't keep her dry one bit and possibly only made it worse. Her hair was separated in soaked strands and there was so much mud everywhere. The stream right beside her grew two times it size from the rain. She was shivering, for the sun was gone and the drops were actually quite cold.

"Oi! It's me! It's Wheatley, your old pal. You remember me, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, of course you do. Are you alright? Um…You know what? Don't answer that. You're not looking too—well, let's just say you've been much better. Loads better, if I'm correct… And is that shaking normal? It doesn't look comfortable…What should I do? I'm not quite sure how to help you, love." Wheatley greeted. Her silver stormy eyes looked at him. She was still shivering from the lack of warmth. It was then that Wheatley noticed a drier patch of dirt a few yards away that was barely touched by the raindrops from the sky by a thick, dense, tree. Maybe she would be more comfortable there, instead of here. However, he might have to carry her there. Unless if she could crawl her way there without hurting herself, but the easiest and quickest way would be him carrying her. (Let's just hope, if he has to carry her that he doesn't drop her in the process, huh?)

"Lady. I think there might be a drier spot over there, you see it?" He motioned to the thicker tree spot area. "Do you want me to take you there? I think it would make you a little more comfortable than here, what do you think? Yes? Or is it a no? I can't really tell with you, if I'm honest." Wheatley offered to her. The human looked over at the dry spot slowly, sighed and then nodded a reluctant yes. "Alright… I guess that I have to make up for this times you've carried me around, huh lady?" He muttered as he tried to pick her up. "Give me a minute, I don't want to hurt that leg of yours. Is it healing, by any chance? I want to know for sure that the medicine is working. You know what? Maybe this is the wrong time to ask…" He stated quietly as he finally managed to lift her up off the ground without it being insecure or hurting her in the process. She looked taken aback even though she gave him permission to carry her. "Ugh, you're freezing, lady… Also, what do you have in your pockets? Because you are very heavy and I'm not quite sure if you are hiding any kind of bricks anywhere, no offense. I'm not meaning it in an insulting way. You just really heavy right now… and I'm not quite sure if I can hold you like this for very long. Just a warning, I would like to point out there. If I drop you, not my fault…" Wheatley warned but was really taken by surprise when she gripped her arms tighter to him.

"Oh, your grip. Very strong, I would imagine… You never dropped me with that same grip. I wish I had that. Although, a little less strength right now would be splendid. You're kind of crushing me here. I won't drop you, or at least I will try not to." He pleaded but she seemed to ignore him. It wasn't because of her insecurity that he will drop her that caused her to hold on so tightly; it was because he was warm. And he was warming her up as we speak without even knowing it, even while heavy rainfall was present and same with the thundering booms and flashes that caused Wheatley to scream and slightly shiver with fear. She still wouldn't let go when he dropped her off at the little dry area, which left poor frightened Wheatley very confused. He didn't really try to push her off yet but he was really curious on her behavior. He even actually found himself strangely yet embarrassingly enjoying it. Is this what humans do often? God, he didn't know what to do. He nervously laughed to get her attention. "Um, lady… I'm not carrying you anymore, just letting you know so you can let go at any time. Uh… What is this?" Wheatley was getting naïve in his thinking now, "Oh! This is a form of...er…affection isn't it? Is this a hug?"

She pulled away right after that, as a way to say, "No Wheatley, that is _not_ a hug". The good news is that she stopped shivering; well she stopped a little bit. The human was still bitter cold and Wheatley didn't tell that he was the opposite. She'll warm up though; after all she has warmed up through all of the nights sleeping here without any shelter or form of heat. She sighed to herself. Wheatley has been trying to help her, and she could tell that he really was trying to show that he was sorry. She knows deep inside of herself that one part wanted to forgive him and the other part doesn't agree. He tried to kill her and even betrayed her trust but she tried to kill him too, (or at least get him out of control of the chassis…) She tried to kill him out of defense, though (of course that was always her motive, she wasn't a murderous coldblooded person, right?) He's trying so hard to prove that he is not the same core he used to be, and that he was the core that she met a long time ago. The friendly core that seemed to be afraid of his own shadow and as bashful as ever, making what he thought was wrong into something that was somewhat right, screwing up a few times, yes, but feeling sorry about it as well. We all make mistakes. Every single one of us, no matter how perfect we think we are. We all mess up somedays. It's not a bad thing either, it just shows that we are human, or closest to any AI could be human. Maybe she should forgive him. She forgave that potato, she could forgive him. Then it's settled, she forgave him, but she'll never put him in charge of anything ever again, that's for sure. And darn right she wouldn't forget about his betrayal too.

He continued to talk, and half of the time, she didn't know what he was talking about but she listened, or tried her best to. She comforted him whenever lightning strikes and the thunder booms right behind it, because he was absolutely new to that. The lady let him know that it was safe and it wasn't going to hurt him from this distance, well, tried her best to explain that without speech. The smell after it rains was completely new to her. However, it was a pleasant smell and it calmed her down by a landslide. Here soon she was almost completely dry despite being a little damp, but she was glad that she wasn't stuck in the rain anymore, grateful even. She was grateful that he came along.

"Oh, the sky stopped leaking didn't it? That was rather strange… Oh wait, no it hasn't stopped yet, hasn't it? Nop, it's leaking just a little." Wheatley uttered to himself. "How's that leg of yours? Is it alright?" He changed the subject. She nodded truthfully. It has improved so much in the past few days and she couldn't wait to get up and walk again. You never know how much you miss something until it's gone. "Brilliant. Um… You know, I never really caught your name, didn't I? After all we've been through, we never really had enough time to uh, introduce. What is your name actually? I would love to know. I don't really know how you would be able to tell me but I just would want to know. Because we're friends, right? Or am I going too far?" He asked. She knew how she would be able to communicate to him. It was simple. All she needed was a stick and she would write in the dirt. She grabbed a stick off the ground, which caused, yet again, a confused Wheatley. This is it, after all the years of avoiding speech, she is going to communicate. After all that time staying quiet and convincing everyone around her that she was mute, she wrote down the letters. She wrote down those five full letters in her penmanship (which Wheatley complimented quietly on) Beginning with a C onto an H, an E and two L's. Chell. "Oh! Brilliant! So you're name is… C-Chell?" Wheatley questioned, and he pronounced it wrong so she nodded a no.

"Oh, okay. So it isn't Chell. So um… is it Chell?" Wheatley asked. She nodded and smiled brightly to him. "Nice to meet you, Chell! Well, we already met a long time ago but you know, it's just a right thing to say when you learn somebody's name. That's very unique name too. It's pretty, but I've never met anyone with a name Chell so, you're the first." Wheatley grinned back happily. Great, he finally knew her name! There's one victory for Wheatley. And he never felt so happy on just a small and very simple accomplishment.

**AN: I'm not satisfied on where this stopped and I'm sorry about that…Anyway. I know what I'm going to do next, and that's all that matters, right? And by the way, Wheatley is waterproof, people. Near the end he gets drizzled with water! :D That's my explanation. **


	6. Surprises Up Sleeves

**AN: Sorry it took a while to get this one started. I swear this happens a lot with my fics. The first few months, I'm updating every week and then it slowly declines until I'm updating once a month. Yeah, it's not really fun. I'M SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT TOO, AGH! **

**Chapter 6 (Surprises Up Sleeves)**

He still couldn't get over the fact that he finally knew her name! After all of this time, he didn't have to call her "lady" anymore. He didn't have to make up acceptable nicknames and pet names no longer. Wheatley could call her Chell, her rightful and true name (that is, if she hadn't lied to him about that out of insecurity). As far as Wheatley knew, no one else actually knows that woman's name, with her name being cut out of the files, nobody knows. Probably even _she_ didn't know, which, by the way, was a big accomplishment for him. Other, normal people never really put thought in the amount of trust that person has to give them when they introduce their selves. And it's obvious because no one would want to introduce to a robber, murderer or traitor because who knows what they could do with a name. Names are personal and giving them way takes more trust then anyone would ever think of. We just never really think too much about it. So, that must mean, she must trust Wheatley at least a little bit to give him her name, right? Or maybe he's just thinking about this a bit too much.

Chell did trust him; she had to, at least a little bit. Well, mainly put it, Wheatley hoped that she trusted him because he was growing rather fond of the human. He liked her, he liked her a lot. Although she didn't talk (or maybe couldn't talk), she listened to him, all of the time. He liked that about her. It wasn't only that she was a good listener, she was also good on her feet, agile and smart as a whip (unlike him). She could get out of anything if she had the determination and the persistence to do so. Chell was just so…different compared to the other test subjects he had taken care of, all those years ago. Most of them had many issues and illnesses from being stuck in suspension for so long. She was the unique one, probably the only one that he had liked. She was also…in a dangerous way…beautiful… Whoa, whoa, what!? Where did that come from? A human, being beautiful? They're just furless primates, what is he thinking? Alright, let's just, ugh. Let's change the subject! That seems like a nice idea!

"Hey, moron. I'm guessing that you want to go outside, again…" Her obviously annoyed voice echoed through the lonely halls, sending chills to whomever that hears it, and Wheatley got out of his thoughts. Wheatley was so lost in thought that he barely realized that he was walking towards her chamber to visit Chell yet again. Although this time, he got a weird feeling before he went outside. It was a sick, uncomfortable feeling and it couldn't have been an emotion, can it? Oh, let's get to the point. Something wasn't right here. He couldn't get over that feeling that something was wrong, the moment he realized where he was. It was like an instinct, that is, if artificial intelligence had instincts the way animals do. There was something about this that Wheatley didn't flat out like, but he didn't know what it was so he just replied as politely as he could to GLaDOS. "Erm, yes please." Ugh, the feeling was bugging him; it was like remembering a face but not being able to think of the name to match with it. It made him feel that he knew what was going on but his idiot brain couldn't help him. The feeling made him think that he was stupid and helpless, even though it was just like a subconscious warning. Something wasn't right, something was not right, but the question is, what is that "something"? Hmmm…

GLaDOS sent a lift to the surface but at the inch he tried to step foot in it, the gates closed, as if it was her way of saying "too slow". "Not so fast. We need to talk." She stated coldly, sending fearful chills in Wheatley's circuits. _"She can't know about that, right? God no. No…no, she's just…she's just making me feel like a moron. Just toying with little old Wheatley, that's all that she's doing. She doesn't know that I'm taking care of this human right? No, no of course she doesn't. Its okay, Wheatley. Everything's fine as long as you act natural…" _His thoughts practically screamed at him. "Uh, w-what do you want to t-talk about, miss? Is something wrong?" He stuttered, trying his best to hide his fear and concern. _"Please don't say yes…"_ Wheatley prayed in his artificial thoughts.

"Yes, something is very wrong. Something that you have done and something we need to work out." Her venom of a voice, hissed, causing poor Wheatley to freak out even more. "Oh no, no, no, no, no! You don't mean…" Wheatley panicked.

"Oh, yes, I know what you are hiding. A shame that you thought you could hide it from me, when I was the one who programmed your new mainframe." GLaDOS paused before continuing, "You see, I have access to every single file that is in you. I can have the power to see what ever saw or have seen. At first, I'll admit, I thought it was a waste of time. Nothing of my concern. Although, after you started to get jumpy about things and going outside everyday for no apparent reason other than just 'enjoy the outdoors', I took advantage of the opportunity. And, for once, I'm actually impressed. Congratulations. You made it this far without the lunatic killing you and you even thought you could get away with it without me knowing." A slow applause entered the room, but for once, Wheatley could tell it wasn't her form of congratulating. "I'm surprised that girl is still alive, to tell you the truth…"

"Alright, you caught me, it's all over! Just, oh god, don't hurt me or punish me in any way. Well, I suppose you can, but please, don't make it too painful. And don't punish her for this, she means a lot to me and I want to show her that I'm not as bad as I used to be. " Wheatley panicked.

"Punish? Oh, no. I would never do that to you." She stated sarcastically. "Well, not yet, at least. I'm still cleaning up your mess you left behind when you were in charge, and I after I'm done, I will make you pay for what you have done to my facility. There, I have said it. However, I'll keep it the day a surprise, just for you."

"Yeah, sure. You could do that, I'm really dreading that though, if I'm honest... Oh, I know! Can we make…erm a compromise, perhaps?" Wheatley asked, an idea actually flowing in his head, for once.

"Hmm… A compromise? What are you getting at, moron?"

"You can punish me all you want, after I make sure our little human friend is safe, huh? Sound good? And you can also 'spy' on us whenever you really feel like it. I'm willing to do that."

"Interesting what goes on in your idiotic head…" She then sighed before continuing, "Okay, fine. As long as it doesn't take a human lifetime to save her, I guess I'm willing to do that. I suppose it would be good for science, to see how humans react to AI's when under survival conditions. Although, I will punish you twice as long for this, since I'm being nice, yet again." She opened the lift and Wheatley rose to the surface.

* * *

_"…He doesn't know why I'm nice to him. I suppose he'll figure out, won't he? Blue and Orange, I am going to have a job for you two and don't let me down."_


	7. All Healed Up

**AN: Thank all of you for being patient with me. School is driving me crazy! I cannot get anything else but school work done! Anyway, here's chapter 7 (God, we are close to the end of this. I hope I can finish it! However, at the same time, I had fun; I'm going to miss it.)**

**Chapter 7 (All Healed Up) **

The sound of wheat against metal with the mixture of wind and internal machinery entered the air while Wheatley kept walking, and reliving what happened just a few minutes ago. If he had a heart, it probably would still be skipping out of his throat (that is, if he had a throat too). He got away with that. And he couldn't believe that fact. It was then that he truly noticed how lucky he really was to evade her cruel punishments. All this time, he thought that if she figured out that he was helping the one thing that threatened her very existence, she would've undoubtedly gut out his internal wiring and throw him into the incinerator. She didn't. Oh thank God she didn't. He could still help her, and now no one was really standing in his way or preventing him to do so. All the weight of the world was off of his shoulders, the job would be much easier.

Oh… However, now is never the good time to talk secretly or even think about secrets, for that matter. All of his privacy was gone. All of his thoughts were quite possibly read by her at that moment. Everything he says would be sent straight to her. He felt uncomfortable after he recovered from his panic attack a few minutes ago. He'll be fine as long as he doesn't think of anything that he will regret in the future. Just as long as he doesn't think or say anything that would possibly anger or annoy her, he'll be just fine. Ugh, he hopes that all this, "fixing-Chell's-leg-and-even-putting-it-back-in-pl ace" situation would be worth it, especially that all of his thoughts are now peeped by the most dangerous and violent AI ever known.

He ventured until he found the same old lonely cliff side that she was living in (temporarily anyway). Her head turned and she beamed slightly and waved at him. "Hey, love" Wheatley uttered as he walked closer to her until they were about a foot or two apart. It was then that he noticed that the ugly shoulder wound that he inflicted upon her when he was power mad was almost healed all the way up. The wound was replaced with a thin scar that was hardly noticeable. Maybe that was a representation of their friendship, it was all healed up. Even if she still didn't quite trust him a hundred percent, he thought of them as friends, like old times. He liked her, he really grew fond of the human, even if they were quite smelly or some of them weren't bright. Well, she was bright; he kind of meant that "not-so-bright" comment to the other humans he met. For some reason, he keeps thinking that she was the most beautiful as well, even if she was still covered in mud and gel, he didn't really know why. He was embarrassed to admit it for some reason, even if it was to himself. He shrugged all of his thoughts away and his optic's direction pointed to her slightly injured leg. "How's your leg, is it alright?" He asked and she gave out a positive sign and nodded.

"Do you want to start walking today?" Wheatley suggested, "If you don't feel comfortable to start then that's okay, I'm fine with that. However, I think we should start today, lovely day isn't? Anyway, that's just my preference… You do what you want." He rambled his way. Another nod from Chell showed up as a response, this time a little hesitant for some reason.

She used the old oak tree for support to get up and slowly and steadily, one step on her left leg and then her right and then she took a deep long breath. "That's the spirit! Breathe Chell, helps with the concentration, I would imagine… Do you, er, need help? That looks difficult." Wheatley commented. Chell, like the strong yet stubborn woman she was, rejected the offer but the moment she did, she tripped and was back to step one. This happened twice without his help, and then she sighed out of frustration and offered for his assist, using that handy twig to communicate in the dirt. "Of course. I'll be glad to help you, love! Alright, tell me if you don't feel comfortable or whatever reason. Okay… Here we go." He used his limbs to lift her up on her feet (he forgot how skin felt against to someone who has metal as outer layers, it felt pleasant). "Alright here's the tricky part…Go on," Wheatley commented, trying to have her replace one step to another. Chell wobbled out of balance and then Wheatley caught her, surprisingly without fail. However, she fell a few times and then was sent back to square one and it just repeated over and over again.

This sequence happened a handful of times until she was able to walk with ease. It only took around a few minutes before the muscles in her unused, once broken leg to familiarize with walking. When it happened, she smiled and stretched out her toes and breathed deeply. Who knew that she would miss the simple ability to walk? Then again, no one knows how much they care about something or how much they value it until it is tragically torn away from them. For Chell, she is just grateful that she can breathe with ease, and is overall healthy, besides living off of apples for a few weeks, having poor hygiene and being slightly dehydrated, that is. She's free, finally free. Forever.

"Brilliant! You did it love! Oh, I can't believe it! Truly great news! Exciting! Um…How about a victory hug for Wheatley, huh?' Wheatley pleaded, mostly the excitement speaking. Chell looked at him, fully standing and was silent, in her words and her actions. He then felt extremely embarrassed. "…or not. That's okay, Chell. I-I was just really…" He sighed "Happy for you."

Surprisingly, she softened up a little bit and smiled before she gave him wobbly and poorly balanced hug. He 'smiled' and awkwardly returned the favor. Everything was going to be okay now. She was going to be safe and free, away from any troubles while he gets a punishment. He is content with that feeling that she will be peaceful and away from any harm… Everything was going to be alright and it is going to turn out for the better.

…or so he thought.

**AN: Thank you for waiting for this. Sorry it's so short but I had to prove that I am doing something, right? See you in the next update; the next chapter is going to be fun! *Evil smirk* **


End file.
